The Bahamas in fourth after first day of CAJGC

Day One of the 2013 Caribbean Amateur Junior Golf Championships (CAJGC) at the North Sound Golf Club in the Cayman Islands is in the bag, and the 12-member team representing The Bahamas will have to play catch-up in a number of divisions.

The Bahamas sits in third in both the girls’ 16-17 division and the boys’ 14-15 division. The girls’ 16-17 division leader is Puerto Rico, and Trinidad and Tobago follows. Puerto Rico also leads the boys’ 14-15 division with Trinidad and Tobago sitting in second.

The Bahamas is fourth in both the boys’ 11-13 and 16-17 divisions. In the girls’ 11-13 division, the country is fifth and sits in the sixth spot in the 14-15 division.

After the first round, Harrison Collins and Brian Coakley are 11th and 12th in the boys’ 16-17 division. Wan Joo Lee of Trinidad and Tobago leads the flight with a score of 71. Matthew Marquez sits in second with a score of 72, and Francisco Pichardo and Juan Jose, both of the Dominican Republic, are tied for third with 74 points. There is a two-way tie for fifth with Donald Leacock and Daniel Caban both scoring 75.

In the 14-15 boys’ division, Lucas Echeverri and Kenneth Martinez are tied for the top spot. Bahamian Echeverri and Martinez, of Puerto Rico, closed the first day of play with a score of 72. Asif Robinson is tied with Julian Estevez for the 10th spot and Craig Gomez is 15th with a score of 87.

Inecia Rolle scored 89 in the first round and L’Leah Laing had a 91, for eighth and ninth respectively, in the girls’ 14-15 division. Valeria Pacheco, from Puerto Rico, is the divisional leader in the 11-13 division for girls with a score of 71. Bahamian Tynesha Tynes sits in ninth with a score of 104.

The Bahamian golfers join their Caribbean counterparts from the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Barbados, the United States Virgin Islands (USVI) and the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) on the 18-hole championships course.

Overall, after the first day of competition, The Bahamas sat in the fourth spot, behind Trinidad and Tobago and Puerto Rico, which were tied for the overall lead, and the Dominican Republic which sat in the third spot. Jamaica sat in the fifth spot, just eight points behind The Bahamas which was 10 points behind the Dominican Republic. The junior tournament will conclude on Saturday.